TAIPEI - About 50 ageing Taiwan leprosy patients have won their fight against eviction from a pre-war "colony", but part of their land will go despite protests from preservationists who chained themselves to boxes.

Taipei's subway company took control of part of the historic compound on Wednesday, closing a gate and preparing for construction despite clashes on Wednesday between police and about 100 activists.

Leprosy sufferers were first forced into the suburban Losheng Sanatorium for fear of contagion 73 years ago and during Japanese colonial rule of the island they were guarded by troops.

Today 40 to 50 holdouts still consider it home, though an original plan would have required them to move to a high-rise apartment block next door.

Their refusal to leave generated widespread sympathy from university students and history preservation advocates, among others, and some recent protests ended in clashes with police.

According to an agreement between Taipei County and the central government, 39 buildings -- about half the four-hectare (10-acre) site -- will be saved. Residents could stay if they wanted or move to the high rise, Taipei County transportation department director Lin Tong-chang said.

"This was in consideration for the people who have been wronged in the past," Lin said. "They are our county citizens. We give them the utmost regard."

Leprosy is a curable disease of the skin and nerves, but its victims have long been ostracised by society.